A claimed hint of alien life whips up spirited debate
You may have already seen the headlines: Signs of life have reportedly been discovered on an alien world. A team of astronomers led by Nikku Madhusudhan of the University of …
Humans have shockingly few ways to treat fungal infections
Fighting fungi isn’t easy. Season two of the streaming series The Last of Us has arrived on Max (light spoilers ahead), bringing viewers back to a world where people combat …
Losing a key U.S. climate report would hurt future disaster prep
This year may already be on track to be the second hottest on record, after 2024. Floods and tornadoes are wracking wide swathes of the United States. And more wild …
A NASA rover finally found Mars’ missing carbon
The carbon that once warmed Mars’ atmosphere has been locked in its rusty rocks for millennia. That’s the story revealed by a hidden cache of carbon-bearing minerals unearthed by NASA’s …
A chemical in plastics is tied to heart disease deaths
A common chemical in household plastics has been linked with heart disease deaths. In 2018, about 13.5 percent of the more than 2.6 million deaths from cardiovascular disease among people …
Cool water could protect sea stars from a mysterious disease
A mysterious disease that has plagued sea stars for more than a decade may have met its match in the fjords of British Columbia. Sunflower sea stars discovered thriving in …
Yes, there really is a black hole on the loose in Sagittarius
For the first time, astronomers have confirmed the existence of a lone black hole — one with no star orbiting it. It’s “the only one so far,” says Kailash Sahu, …
Neandertals may have hunted in horse-trapping teams 200,000 years ago
Neandertals formed sophisticated hunting parties that drove wild horses into fatal traps around 200,000 years ago. At Germany’s Schöningen site, wooden spears, double-pointed sticks, stone artifacts and butchered remains of …
Check out some of the weird rocks that have turned up on Mars
As the Mars rover Perseverance crested the top of Witch Hazel Hill, its operators back on Earth expected amazing things. This area on the western rim of the Jezero crater, …
Don’t wait until menopause to strengthen your bones
I confess: If I think about skeletons, it’s around Halloween. I especially enjoy the yard displays of larger-than-life skeletons engaging in mundane activities, like walking skeleton dogs. But our own …